Glenelg’s Will Gould, Norwood’s Cameron Taheny among the standouts of SA’s 2019 state under-18 squad and draft crop
Last year much of the talk about SA’s under-18 squad surrounded Jack Lukosius and Izak Rankine. They are now in the AFL but SA coach Tony Bamford says there is plenty of talent in this year’s program and some names to watch.
- SANFL season preview: Why North will need new miracle
- Snake invasion causes headcount chaos in trial
- SA crush Vics to win national under-18 championship
- Every club’s ins and outs graded
You will be hard-pressed to find too many positives from flight delays or lights flickering on planes before they take off.
But a December trip to Central Australia that almost did not get off the ground helped launch the SA under-18 team’s 2019 campaign and gave Croweaters coach Tony Bamford the chance to get to know his squad of 30 players.
The journey to Alice Springs, Uluru and the indigenous community of Mutitjulu was one of three camps the team would have gone on before its trial games began and, along with additional training sessions, formed part of the AFL’s new state-based academy program, or “hub”, introduced late last year.
When the team’s plane was on the runway, the pilot informed passengers there was a light on that should not have been and, 45 minutes later, that another aircraft would be needed.
“We basically had two options — to hang around the airport and hope to get on a plane that day or do what other passengers did and go home then fly the next day,” Bamford said.
“We literally spent about five hours at the airport that day, so we got to know each other pretty well before we got to Alice Springs.
“Final word eventually came that ‘sorry guys, you’ll have to come back and fly the next day’.
“When we finally got to Alice Springs (via Brisbane a day later) … it was wonderful.
“It was a really good experience for not just the players but the staff who went as well.”
Bamford learnt plenty on that trip and over the next few months about his initial squad of 30. But what he already realised about this year’s crop was there was probably not another Jack Lukosius or Izak Rankine among them — the type of talent that only came around “once every 10 years”, according to Bamford, “and we got two in the same year”.
Lukosius and Rankine were the headline acts in Bamford’s side that won last year’s national under-18 crown and Gold Coast drafted the teenagers with picks two and three in November.
Four months on, Bamford is unsure if there will be a Croweater chosen in the top 10 in 2019, let alone one in the first five, but he concedes there is still plenty of footy to come “and we’ve got some really good players”.
Glenelg’s Will Gould, who was a bottom-age All-Australian last year, Norwood duo Cameron Taheny and Dylan Stephens and Eagles pair Kysaiah Pickett and Jackson Mead loom as names to watch.
Gould is learning the ropes as a midfielder after playing mainly as a defender, Pickett has some “bloody good highlights” in his game but is seeking consistency and Mead is a father-son prospect at Port Adelaide, where his father Darren is a former star.
All five of the youngsters were part of Bamford’s squad last year.
Players to impress Bamford who may be less familiar outside of club and state under-18 circles are Sturt medium forward Oliver Grivell and North Adelaide key backman Dyson Hilder, who the Roosters are trialling as an inside midfielder.
But Bamford says having 30 academy players does not mean the under-18 squad is set, highlighting the rise of ex-Panther
Jake Tarca last year from outside the initial group to making it and then eventually getting picked up by Geelong.
The former Port Adelaide coach and Magpies premiership player also has high hopes in 2019 for Sturt’s Hugo Munn and South Adelaide’s Hayden Sampson, who are looking to bounce back from the disappointment of getting overlooked at November’s drafts.
“Draft day was a pretty good result, not just for the boys I coach but the whole league,” Bamford said.
“There were several mature-age players drafted, so that’s great for our competition and good for the 18s who don’t get drafted because it gives them a bit of a sniff … look at those fellas and know if they play well for another year, they’ll get a chance.”